King of Spain's son-in-law faces court in deepening scandal

The disgraced son-in law of Spain's King Juan Carlos is to be questioned in
court over the extent to which the monarch and other members of the Royal
Household were involved in shady business dealings in a deepening scandal
that is threatening the credibility of the Spanish Bourbons.

Last month the Duke's name was dropped from the Royal websitePhoto: AFP

Inaki Urdangarin, 44, who became the Duke of Palma on marrying the King's youngest daughter Cristina in 1997, will make a second appearance at a court in Majorca on Saturday to answer questions likely to bring fresh embarrassment to Spain's King.

The Duke and his former business partner, Diego Torres, are suspected of embezzling millions of euros of public funds through the Noos Institute, a not-for-profit organisation that arranged sporting and cultural events.

The Duke denies any wrongdoing and has laid the blame for any accounting irregularities at the feet of Mr Torres, while insisting that his wife, the Infanta Cristina, a non-executive director at the Noos Institute, was linked to the business in name only.

Inaki Urdangarin, left and Diego Torres (AFP/Reuters)

Torres, however, has told the investigating judge that the Duke was an equal decision-maker in the company and that the Infanta Cristina also played a significant role. He has handed some 200 emails over to the court that he claims show the true extent of the Royal Household's influence in the company.

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Since the scandal broke in late 2011, the Duke has been officially sidelined in a strategy by the Royal Household to distance itself from his activities. Last month his name was dropped from the Royal website.

But the emails that have come to light appear to suggest the 75-year-old monarch closely followed the business dealing of his son-in-law and may even have lent his support to some of his projects.

In one, published this week in Spain'sEl Pais newspaper, the Duke of Palma writes to a business associate that "SM has reiterated his enthusiasm for the project to go ahead." SM is thought to refer to Su Majestad - His Majesty.

Another correspondence seems to suggest that a German aristocrat and close friend of the King had been asked by the monarch to negotiate a deal for the Duke.

Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein first made headlines in Spain after it emerged she was a frequent travel companion of King Juan Carlos and had accompanied him on his ill-fated visit to Botswana last April, when he broke his hip on an elephant hunting trip.

Earlier this month the court said it would begin freezing assets belonging to the Duke and Mr Torres after they failed to post a combined bond of 8.2 million euros.